fO 


ADDKESS 

DHLITHRHP  BF.PORE  THE 

MINNESOTA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 


y  SIXTH  ANNIVERSARY,  FEBRUARY  1st,  1856. 


HON.   H.   H.   SIBLEY. 


R£L£ASEO  BY       „ 


'19 


aUKTO. 


ADDKESS. 


la  the  Note  from  the  Secretary  of  this  Society,  inviting  me  to  deliver  the  Annual 
.Address,  there  was  contained  an  intimation  that  the  state  of  the  country  now  comprised 
within  our  territorial  limits,  from  the  year  1819,  when  a  Military  Post  was  first  estab- 
lished at  the  confluence  of  the  Mississippi  and  Minnesota  Rivers,  until  1849,  when 
Congress  gave  to  Minnesota  a  distinct  existence  and  a  name,  would  be  an  appropriate 
subject.  I  have  acted  upon  that  suggestion  in  part  only  ;  not  having  confined  myself 
to  the  particular  period  referred  to,  nor  have  I  attempted  any  thing  irke  a  continuous 
narrative  of  events.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  picked  up  a  waif  here  and  there,  as  fur- 
nished from  memory,  or  otherwise  brought  within  my  reach,  and  I  have  enunciated 
some  opinions  of  my  own,  which  will  be  found  not  to  accord  with  those  generally 
entertained  by  the  community  at  large. 

AKTE-mSTORIC    PERIOD. 

While  reviewing  what  is  usually  termed  the  early  history  of  Mianesota,~which  has 
reference  to  a  time  subsequent  to  its  discovery  by  white  men — the  mind  is  naturally  led 
to  speculate  upon  the  condition  of  things  as  they  existed  at  a  much  more  remote  pe- 
riod, and  before  the  present  race  of  red  men  acquired  possession  of  this  country.  That 
the  entire  West  was  inhabited  by  a  more  civilized  people  than  the  Indians,  we  do  net 
learn  from  tradition,  nor  have  we  the  testimonials  even  of  rude  hieroglyphics,  which 
may  be  deciphered  sooner  or  later  by  the  antiquarian.  Nevertheless,  there  is  other 
evidence  of  the  fact,  of  an  indisputable  character.  In  the  bowels  of  the  earth  there 
have  been  sought  for  and  found,  the  relics  of  a  past  age.  Earthen  vessels  of  con- 
venient form — weapons  and  implements  of  labor  made  from  copper — other  articles  never 
fashioned  by  Indian  hands — together  with  the  proofs  of  mechanical  skill  in  the  copper 
mines  of  Lake  Superior  lately  discoverd,  where  masses  of  that  metal  of  many  tons 
weight  have  been  raised  from  their  beds,  and  wooden  supports  introduced  beneath  them 
with  a  view  to  their  removal — these  are  a  few  of  the  evidences  which  satisfy  us  of  the 
existence  of  a  race  long  since,  in  the  region  now  occupied  by  us,  who  were  far  superior 
to  the  Indian  tribes,  but  whose  fate  is  left  entirely  to  conjecture. 

Fancy  may  picture  to  us  communities  of  simple  and  industrious  people,  un warlike 
in  their  character,  happy  in  the  possession  of  a  fertile  and  beautiful  country,  and 
blessed  with  all  the  comforts  of  life,  suddenly  and  successively  invaded,  overwhelmed 
and  exterminated  by  hordes  of  merciless  savages,  leaving  behind  them  no  other  traces 
of  their  history  than  are  afforded  by  a  few  specimens  of  their  ingenuity  in  the  mechanic 
arts.  The  mystery  which  envelops  their  fate  will  never  be  penetrated  unless  indeed 
there  should  be  discovered,  at  a  future  day,  some  record  which  has  hitherto  baffled  the 
diligent  search  of  the  historian, 
A— *B 


4  ADDRESS. 

THE    IXDIAX   CHARACTEB. 

Tlie  cbaractor  of  tlio  wild  rnoe  who  succeeded  them  in  the  jx)8session  of  the  MiBsissippi 
Valley  is  well  portrayed  by  Alison  in  his  partial,  but  eloquent,  "  History  of  Europe.'' 
He  describes  the  Xorih  American  Indian  "  as  neither  the  child  of  Japhet,  daring,  indus 
trions,  indefatignble.  exploring  the  world  by  his  enterprise  and  subduing  it  by  his  exer- 
tions ;  nor  the  oftspring  of  Ishniael,  sober,  ardent,  enduring,  trayersing  the  desert  on 
his  steetls,  and  issuing  forth  at  appointeil  intervals  from  his  solitudes  to  punish  and  re- 
generate mankind.  He  is  the  hunter  of  the  forest  ;  skilled  to  perfection  in  the  craft 
necessary  for  that  primitive  occupation,  but  incapable  of  advancing  beyond  it.  Civili- 
zation in  vain  endeavored  to  thiow  its  silken  fetters  over  his  limbs  ;  lie  avoids  the  smi- 
ling i)lantation,  and  Hies  in  horror  before  the  advancing  hatchet  of  the  weodman.  He 
does  well  to  shun  the  approaclrof  the  European  race;  he  can  neither  endure  its  fatigues, 
nor  withstand  its  temptations;  and  faster  than  before  the  sword  and  the  bayonet  his 
race  is  melting  under  tlio  fire-water,  the  first  gift,  and  last  cnrse  of  civilization." 

IKIHAI,    COXUITIOX     OK    THE    INDIAN'S. 

It  i.**  not  my  intention  to  expatiate  at  length  upon  this  topic,  but  in  the  Annual  Ad- 
dress of  your  Society,  a  passing  glance  may  be  permitted,  at  the  tribal  condition  ©f 
that  jicople  who  have  so  long  roamed  through  our  forests  and  our  prairies,  and  who  are 
now  disappearing  under  the  ojieration  of  the  same  influences  which  long  since  swept 
their  Eastern  brethren  from  the  earth. 

The  sub-divisions  of  the  respective  Dakota  and  Algonquin  stocks  have  been  opposed 
to  each  other  for  centuries.  Tradition,  as  well  as  the  testimony  of  the  early  writers 
ni>on  thi.s  country,  informs  us  that  active  hostilities  have  existed  between  them  from  titne 
immemorial, except  when  occasional  temporary  truce  has  been  agreed  upon  by  the  parties. 
Sometimes  it  hashapjKrned  tliat  some  of  the  offshoots  from  the  parent  stem  have  combined 
with  its  ^-ncmics  against  it.  1'hus  the  Assincboines,  a  revolted  tribe  of  the  Dakota?, 
have  allied  themselves  with  the  Chipjicwas  against  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  of  Algonquin  extraction,  were  foimerly  on  such  friendly  termf:  with  the 
Dakotas  that  with  tln-ni  they  made  furious  war  upon  the  Chippewas.  These  were, 
however,  but  signal  exceptions  io  the  general  rule.  Not  one  whit  more  bitter  was  the 
hat<»  of  Ifamilcar  to  th<^  Human  name,  wlirii  ho  comjielled  his  son  Hannibal  to  swear 
«-t*»ni:d  hor-lilily  to  it  upon  lln-  ;il(ar,  than  is  that  which  is  harliored  by  Dakota  against 
rhip|»ewH,  and  (jliij>]icwa  iigiiinnt   Dakota  even  to  this  day. 

From  thf  informalixn  w<t  i;in  gath<'r  of  the  number  of  Indians  in  the  countiy  now 
known  a-;  Minni-Mjia,  it  ih  not  probable  that  it  has  undergone  any  serious  increase  or 
dimiiHitioii  for  a  i'«Mitiiry  or  morn,  until  witliiri  IIh;  last  few  years.  The  natural  increase 
ban  alnnit  k'^pt  pace  with  tlic  deaths  from  disoa.4c,  which,  in  a  healthy  land  like  this, 
••ouUl  iicvJT  linve  Inien  great,  while  the  lives  lobt  in  battle  wore  fewer  in  number  than 
hUh  lt«<Mi  gfiKjrally  ^iippoHcd.  'I'lir  war,^  between  the  Indian  tril)e8  are  not  of  a  aan- 
KuinHrr  <hRrart-<.r,  which  diHtingiiihh  th<^e  waged  between  Eurojiean  nations.  Occa- 
MOnallr,  and  at  long  intervalu,  a  .senlirc  camp,  taken  at  a  disadvantage,  has  been  de- 
••(troywl,  judging  frDiu  my  own  ol)Hr>rvatioM,  anil  from  statistics  of  a  reliable  nature,  I 
am  contincwl  thjit  tho  lives  bacrificod  in  the  petty  contostH  between  the  Dakotas  and 
(/hip|>ewM  h«r«  not  aiBi>unt«d,  is  the  aggregat*.  (•  au  annual  average  of  iifty,  for  the 


ADDRESS.  5 

past  century.  The  partisan  who  leads  an  expcditiou  agaiuBt  an  euemj  is  exceedingly 
careful  of  the  lives  of  his  men,  for  his  reputation  as  a  medicine-iuau  or  prophet,  and 
his  influence  as  a  leader,  depend  entirely  upon  the  amount  of  injury  he  can  inflict  upon 
the  foe  without  any  corr«si>oiulin.ii,-  sacrilico  on  his  own  side.  Again,  a  Avar  party, 
whether  large  or  small,  almost  invariably  rotra<  e  their  steps  after  taking  one  or  more 
scalps  at  the  first  onset.  They  .■sock  to  strike  no  second  blow,  unless  urged  forward  by 
the  pressure  of  some  peculiar  and  extreme  exasjK'ratiow. 

RELTOIOK    0«^    THE    rlAKOi.■^^ 

The  religiou  of  the  Dakota.s  is  a  mere  myth.  It  has  been  ofieii  sissorted  that  the 
Indian  race  are  raonotheLsts,  and  therefore  far  in  advaiu^c  of  otiior  pagans  who  believe 
in  a  multiplicity  of  deitie.",  that  they  look  forward  also  to  a  future  state  and  to  its  retri- 
butions. I  regret  to  be  obliged  to  express  an  opinion  on  this  .subject,  which  must  con- 
flict with  such  favorable  impressions.  The  ))elieC  attributed  1<>  the  lilastern  tribes,  of 
happy  hunting  grounds  for  the  good,  and  wastes  devoid  of  gauK!  for  the  bad  in  another 
sphere  of  existence,  linds  uo  response  in  the  bieast  of  a  Dakota.  He  seeks  to  pro 
pitiate  what  he  calls  the  Great  Sj)irit,  and  a  multitude  of  luinor  si)irits,  especially  those 
embodied  in  oval  shaped  stones,  by  sacrifices  of  tobacco  and  other  trifling  articles,  uot 
because  he  hopes  or  cares  for  a  reward  in  a  higJier  state  of  beiug,  but  because  he  depre- 
cates the  visitations  of  their  anger  upon  earth,  in  the  form  of  disease,  accident  or  death 
to  himself  or  his  family.  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  any  Dakota,  among  the 
very  many  with  whom  I  hare  conversed  on  the  subject,  was  ever  deterred  from  the 
commission  of  a  crime  by  a  fear  of  ^^unishment  in  another  world,  nor  have  1  been  able 
to  satisfy  myself  that  their  impressions  of  a  future  state  are  any  thing  but  shadowy, 
uncertain  and  unsatisfactory. 

UEfAV    OV    THE    INOlAX    TKlBfit^. 

The  decay  of  the  Dakotas  in  our  midst  may  be  dated  fiom  the  time  of  their  treaty  in 
1837,  by  which  the  U.  S.  Government  acquired  their  lauds  on  the  East  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River.  Ceasing  gradually  to  rely  upon  their  own  eSbrts  for  support,  they  looked 
forward  with  more  and  more  anxiety  to  the  pittance  annually  doled  out  to  them  in 
money,  goods  and  provisions,  until  they  have  become  the  miserable  and  dependent 
Creatures  frequently  seen  about  your  streets.  The  policy  which  has  been  pursued  to 
secure  the  land  of  the  Indian,  and  then  to  oS'er  him  no  inducement  to  improve  his  con- 
dition, has  been  the  bane  ot  his  race.  Recourse  to  liquor,  and  other  evil  habits,  are 
but  the  natural  consequences  of  that  system  which  drives  him  from  his  home,  interferes 
with  his  habits  of  life,  and  regards  him  as  au  outcast  from  the  laud  of  his  fathers, 
w^ithout  holding  out  to  him  any  promise  for  the  future. 

INOIAN    XRADEK* THEIH   REFLTEIl,  AND   TIIEIK    TRUE    CHAHACTER. 

About  two  hundred  years  have  elapsed  since  Minnesota  was  first  explored  by  white 
men.  Two  Frenchmen,  long  before  the  visit  of  Father  Hennepin  to  th«  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  had  reached  the  region  of  lakes  lying  Westward  from  Lake  Superior.  How 
far  they  penetrated  towards  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi  we  know  not,  as  the  informa- 
|.ion  we  possess,  relative  to  their  movements,  is  very  limited  They  were  Indian  traders, 
Ih©  pioneers  of  that  bold  ,wd  hardy  cUssi,  of  men,  who,  despising  the  com  forte  mi  the 


6  ADDRESS. 

seductions  of  civilized  life,  have,  since  that  period,  explored  the  recesses  of  our  forests, 
and  the  wide  expanse  of  our  prairies,  and  gazed  with  rapture  upon  the  beauty  and 
magnificence  of  our  lakes,  while  they  have  extended  the  influence  of  the  children  of 
Japhet,  far  and  wide  among  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest. 

Canada  was  the  principal  nursery  of  this  class  of  adventurers,  who,  fascinated  by  the 
unrestrained  liberty  of  action  offered  by  the  trade  with  Indians,  and  by  the  novelty 
connected  with  it,  entered  upon  the  vocation  with  great  ardor.  Stimulated  less  by 
a  prospect  of  gain  than  by  the  excitement  of  new  scenes,  and  the  hope  of  new  discover- 
ies, the  Indian  trader  was  arrested  by  no  difficulties  or  dangers,  discouraged  by  no  fa- 
tigue or  exposure,  from  the  accomplishment  of  the  object  he  had  in  view.  Perhaps  no 
body  of  men  have  ever  been  so  misunderstood  and  misrepresented  as  those  of  which  he 
formed  a  component  part.  To  them  have  been  ascribed  not  only  all  the  evils  und  out- 
rages that  are  the  accompaniments  of  extreme  frontier  life,  where  law  is  unfelt  and 
unknown,  but  they  have  been  charged  with  fraud  and  villainy  of  every  conceivable 
description.  The  very  accusations  made  against  them  in  many  cases  contained  their 
own  refutation.  While  nothing  was  more  certain  to  destroy  his  hopes  of  success  in 
trade  than  a  state  of  active  hostilities  between  the  Indians  he  had  dealings  with  and 
other  bands  of  savages,  he  has  been  a  thousand  times  accused  of  inciting  war  between 
them.  Never  hesitating  for  a  moment  to  save  a  captive  from  violence,  at  any  peril  to 
his  own  life,  or  at  any  sacrifice  of  his  property,  he  has  been  denounced  as  devoid  of  all 
feelings  in  common  with  civilixed  man,  and  as  a  mere  trafficker  in  human  blood.  With 
too  much  self  respect  to  contradict  charges  so  absurd  and  improbable,  and  with  an 
undue  contempt  for  public  opinion,  it  is  not  surprising  that  scarcely  a  voice  has  been 
raised,  or  a  pen  wielded  in  his  behalf. 

.  There  is  an  unwritten  chapter  yet  to  be  contributed  to  the  records  of  the  ^s'orthwest, 
which  will  place  the  Indian  trader  in  a  proper  light  before  the  country,  while  it  Avill  not 
seek  to  extenuate  cither  his  defects  or  his  vices  This  is  neither  the  time  nor  the  place 
for  such  a  production,  but  it  will  doubtless  be  a  grateful  task,  and  peculiarly  within  the 
lirovince  of  this  Society,  to  cause  the  memory  of  the  men,  who,  of  all  others,  are 
most  intimately  identified  with  the  early  history  of  Minnesota,  to  be  relieved  frOm  the 
weight  of  oblorjuy  so  unjustly  heaped  upon  them. 

They  were  a  class  of  men  eminently  distinct  from  all  others  in  their  modes  of  thought 
and  of  life,  and  they  cannot,  therefore,  be  justly  measured  by  the  standard  which  ob- 
tains in  civilized  communities. 

They  were,  for  the  most  part,  individuals  of  little  or  no  education,  but  remarkable 
for  their  energy  and  for  fidelity  to  their  eugagemeuUs.  In  fact,  the  whole  system  of 
Indian  triide  was  nece.s.-;arily  based  upon  the  personal  integrity  of  the  employer  and  the 
cnrployc*!.  CJonerally  siKjaking,  the  former  resided  hundreds,  or  even  thousands  of 
inilm  di.stant  from  tho  jtlace  of  trndf,  and  he  furnished  large  amount.'^  of  merchandize 
to  his  agent  or  clerk,  for  which  he  hold  no  security  but  his  plighted  faith.  With  the 
rorjni*ito  number  of  men  to  perform  the  labor  of  transporting  his  goods  and  supplies  in 
bark  canoes,  thi.s  tru.stod  individual  wtMidcd  hi.s  way,  in  August  or  September,  to  the 
■OMM  of  o|K(rtttions,  wlicrc  Im  nrt'cled  his  wintering  Iiou.sc,  furnished  his  Indians  with 
norouBQry  clothing  and  ammunition,  and  dcHpatnhed  them  to  their  hunts.  In  many  cases 
bi«  principal  rouM  obtnio  no  knowh-dgc  of  his  niovomonts  until  liin  return  in  the  sprinfr 


ADDRESS.  1  '■ 

with  the  fruits  of  his  exchanges.  If  a  clerk,  he  was  theu  paid  the  amoimt  of  his  salary 
as  agreed  upon,  if  trading  on  his  own  account,  the  sum  of  his  peltries  was  made  up, 
and  the  difference  between  that  sum  and  the  invoice  of  goods  furnished  him  added  to 
tlie  wages  of  his  men,  which  were  always  paid  l)y  the  principal,  told  the  story  of  his  proQt 
or  his  loss.  Furs  being  of  no  intrinsic  value,  but  entirely  subject  to  the  fluctuations  of 
fashion,  it  often  happened  that  a  poor  trader,  who  had  succeeded  in  the  collection  of 
an  unusual  number  of  one  kind  or  another  of  the  skins  of  fur-bearing  animals,  and 
flattered  himself  with  the  hope  of  having  made  money  by  his  winter's  operations,  had 
that  hope  dispelled  by  finding  that  prices  had  gone  down  to  a  low  figure,  and  that  he 
had  plunged  himself  into  debt.  In  such  oases  the  sufferer  consoled  himself  with  the 
hope  that  the  next  season  would  show  a  different  result,  and  he  returned  to  his  winter- 
ing ground  by  no  means  a  despondent  man. 

But  while  a  departure  from  strict  honesty  on  the  part  of  the  principal  and  clerk,  one 
towards  the  other,  was  so  rare  an  occurrence  as  to  be  almost  unknown,  no  scruples 
were  felt  in  taking  any  advantage  of  an  opponent  in  trade,  whether  fair  or  unfair. 
There  was  a  state  of  warfare  perpetually  existing  between  rival  establishments  in  the 
Indian  country,  except  in  case  of  sickness  or  scarcity  of  provisions,  when  hostihtics 
ceased  for  a  time,  and  the  opposite  party  came  to  the  rescue  of  those  who  were  in  dis- 
tress, and  afforded  every  assistance  possible.  Such  exhibitions  of  ((ualities  so  contra- 
dictory  were  characteristic  of  all  the  old  class  of  Indian  traders. 

In  times  of  famine  or  of  sickness  among  the  Indians  themselves,  the  trader  was  to 
them  a  ministering  angel.  Xo  one  was  sent  away  unrelieved,  so  long  as  his  stores 
lasted.  The  consequence  of  such  generosity  Ijorc  its  legitimate  fruit.  The  reliance  of 
the  savage  upon  his  trader  became,  in  the  course  of  time,  ahuost  without  limit,  and  he 
took  no  important  step  without  first  consulting  him.  The  white  man  was  the  confidant 
of  his  joys  and  his  sorrows,  and  his  influence  was  augmented  in  proportion.  That  this 
influence  was  not  often  used  to  accomplish  selfish  and  unworthy  purposes,  I  do  not  pre- 
tend to  assert.  That  it  was  more  frequently  employed  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indian  and 
of  his  race,  I  most  unhesitatingly  believe. 

As  the  trader  received  his  goods  on  credit,  at  a  stipulated  price  above  the  cost,  cither 
from  individual  merchants,  or  from  associations,  so  he  in  turn  made  advances  to  the 
Indian  hunters,  as  his  knowledge  of  their  characters  for  honesty  and  skill  in  the  chase 
justified  him  in  so  doing.  The  system  of  credits  was  adopted  more  or  less  generally 
throughout  the  Northwest,  and  has  not  entirely  ceased  even  at  this  day,  but  it  must 
soon  come  to  an  end,  for  civilization,  with  all  its  blessings,  can  aflbrd  no  substitute 
for  the  simple  Indian  trader  of  the  olden  time  ;  who,  equally  with  honest  Leatherstock- 
ing,  shunned  the  society  of  his  fellow  white  men,  and  above  all,  despised  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  law;  and  the  contact  of  the  Indian  with  the  whites  has  so  far  demor- 
alized him  as  to  render  it  unsafe  longer  to  trust  his  honesty. 

SKETCHES  OF  SOME  OK  THE  EARLY  TRADERS. 

Having  indulged  in  these  general  remarks,  with  reference  to  the  Indian  traders,  1 
shall  proceed  to  particularize  a  very  few  of  the  class  I  have  described,  with  whom  it 
was  my  fortune  to  become  personally  acquainted. 

Joseph  Renville  wa?  one  of  these  men,  and  as  a  memoii'  of  him  has  heretofore  been 
pnblished  in  your  annals,  I  will  merely  mention  the  fact  in  connection  with  him,  that  he 


8  ADDRESS 

was  the  first  etock  raiser  of  Minnesoia,  for  more  thuu  tweuty-five  years  ago,  at  Lac  quj 
Parle,  he  owued  sheep  by  the  huuLlreds,  aud  cattle  by  the  score. 

Louis  Provcncalle  was  a  man  of  even  less  educatioQ  than  Renville,  but  like  him,  ho 
v,as  e^ifted  with  a  strong  natural  intellect.  He  kept  his  Indian  credit  books  by  hiero- 
glyphics, having  a  particular  figure  for  eacli  article  of  merchandise,  understood  only  by 
himself,  and  in  marking  down  peltries  received  from  the  Indians  he  drew  the  form  of 
the  animal  the  skin  of  which  was  to  be  represented.  lie  had  also  a  mode  of  indica- 
ting the  names  of  his  Indian  debtors  on  his  account  books  peculiar  to  himself.  For- 
tunately he  had  mastered  the  mystery  of  figures  sufficiently  well  to  express  by  them 
ihe  amount  he  wished  to  designate,  and  the  "general  correctness  of  his  accounts  did  not 
admit  of  question, 

He  it  is  of  whom  it  is  truly  related,  that  when  threatened  by  a  baud  of  wild  Dako- 
tas  with  the  pillage  of  his  goods,  he  seized  a  firebrand,  aud  holding  it  within  a  few 
inches  of  an  open  keg  filled  with  gunpowder,  bo  declared  his  determination  to  blow 
them  with  himself,  into  the  air,  if  they  seized  upon  a  single  article.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  mention  that  his  reckless  conduct  had  the  desired  effect,  and  he  sufl'ercd  no 
further  annoyance  of  a  like  kind. 

Another  adventure  in  which  he  participated  terminated  less  successfully.  I  have  often 
heard  the  recital  of  it  from  his  own  lips.  In  company  with  one  of  his  mou,he  was  engaged 
in  a  search  for  an  Indian  camp,  where  he  had  been  informed  there  was  a  large  number 
of  bnflalo  robes.  Fatigued  aud  hungry,  they  found  themselves  near  a  herd  of  buffalo, 
and  not  suspecting  that  there  were  Indians  near,  they  shot  a  cow  and  brougtit  her  to 
the  ground.  The  report  of  the  guns  put  the  animals  to  flight,  and  in  a  few  moments 
Provencallc  and  his  companion  were  assailed  by  the  Indians,  knocked  down,  severely 
beaten  with  their  bows,  and  otherwise  maltreated.  It  appeared  that  the  baud  of  which 
he  was  in  search,  were  about  comiiletiug  a  cane,  or  surround,  of  the  buffalo,  the  men 
crawling  cautiously  to  their  appointed  stations,  when  the  interference  of  the  white  men 
disconcerted  all  their  arrangements,  for  which  the  puuishmcut  al)Ovc  detailed  was  sum- 
marily inflicted.  Nevertheless,  the  coveted  robes  were  secured,  although  the  old  gen- 
tleman declared  he  would  not  undergo  another  castigation  of  iho  same  kind  for  all  the 
roV)es  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Provunc?lle  came  to  this  country  before  the  close  of  the  last  century.  Ho  died 
at  Mcndota  in  18.50.1 

.lean  JJaptist  Faribault  is  the  last  surviver  of  ihc  old  traders.  He  is  now  more  than 
hO  yoarK  of  age,  :uid  resides  at  Farilwult,  in  Kicc  county,  with  his  sous.  He  is  a  native 
of  Canada,  and  removed  to  this  country  in  1708,  57  years  ago.  Ho  enjoj-ed  consider- 
abli)  aflvati(ag<>K  of  education  in  early  youth.  His  career  in  this  region  has  been 
marked  with  more  of  adverse  fortune  than  usually  occurs,  ovcu  in  the  perilous  life  of 
4n  Indian  trader.  Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  ho  was 
rohliod  by  the  Winnebugots  at  Prairio  du  Chien,  of  a  large  stock  of  goods,  for  which 
In;  never  rcroivtd  any  remuneration.  Some  years  subscciucntly  he  fixed  his  residence 
\i\ton  Pike's  Inland,  near  Vnrl  Saint  Anthony,  (now  Snoiiing,)  and  had  barely  estab- 
lished hims/'If  in  his  vo<'n.tiou  of  trailer  when  he  was  forced  by  tlu*  mandate  of  the 
Commaiuiant  of  the  Kor|.  Vq  abandon  his  buildings,  and  to  l)otako  himself,  with  bis 
raov*ftbl«  property,  (o  the.  bottom  land  ou  \)]o  Kast  «)dc  of  the  MiiHlssinpl^  yvhcvQ  he 


ADDRESS.  i> 

erected  new  tenements.  The  following  spring,  the  water,  wliich  was  unusually  high, 
carricfl  off  his  houses  and  live  stock,  he  and  his  family  escaping  in  boats,  by  means  of 
wliich  he  was  fortunately  enabled  to  save  his  goods  and  furs  from  destrnction.  Still 
nndisconragod,  he  l)uilt  a  house  at  the  point  now  known  as  Mondota,  where  he  resided 
many  years,  except  during  the  winter  months,  when  he  assumed  charge  of  his  trading 
post  at  liittle  Uapids,  on  the  Minnesota  river. 

In  1834  he  narrowly  escaped  death  from  the  knife  of  a  savage  Dakota,  the  blade  of 
which  penetrated  the  cavity  of  the  lungs,  and  from  the  effects  of  which  wound  he  has 
never  entirely  recovered.     ]To  is  emphatically  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Minnesota. 

Alexis  Bailly,  now  a  resident  of  Wabashaw,  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  earlv 
settlers  of  the  Territory,  although  not  belonging  to  the  same  category  with  those 
already  mentioned.  In  1821  he  went  to  the  Red  River  of  the  North  with  Trancois 
Tiabolhe,  now  a  resident  of  Nicollet  county,  and  two  hired  men.  Mr.  Bailly  had  in 
charge  a  herd  of  cattle,  which  were  in  great  demand  at  the  Colony,  and  commanded 
high  prices.  He  and  his  party  had  several  remarkable  escapes  from  war  parties  of  sav- 
ages, who  on  one  occasion  stole  all  their  horses,  sevente^^u  in  number.  They  Anally 
reaehed  their  destination  without  other  loss.  Mr.  Bailly  sold  milch  cows  at  the  Colony 
for  $100  to  $135  each,  and  other  cattle  in  proportion.  Returning  from  the  North,  Mr. 
Bailly  made  arrangements  with  the  American  Fnr  Company,  whereby  he  was  placed 
in  charge  of  an  extensive  district  of  trade  on  the  Minnesota,  Cannon,  and  Desmoines 
rivers.     lie  was  also  at  one  time  connected  with  the  Columbia  Fur  Company. 

Joseph  R.  Brown  has  also  been  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade  more  or  less  continuously 
for  more  than  thirty  years.  He  is  said  to  have  brought  down  the  first  raft  of  pine 
lumber  that  ever  descended  the  St,  Croix  river.  When  in  the  employ  of  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company,  at  Lac  Travers,  in  1 8B5,  he  v\'as  shot  at,  and  severely  wounded  in 
the  shoulder,  by  a  Dakota  Indian  ;  and  during  the  winter  of  the  same  year,  Louis 
Proveucalle,  Junior,  also  a  clerk,  having  charge  of  a  trading  station  on  the  Conteau  de 
Prairie,  was  barbarously  murdered  by  one  of  the  same  band. 

Benjamin  F.  Baker,  Alexander  Faribault,  James  AVells,  Norman  W.  Kittson,  Hazen 
Mooers,  Philander  Prescott,  Augustiu  Rock,  Joseph  Laframboise  and  Francoise  Labothe 
were  among  the  prominent  Indian  traders  of  the  country,  when  I  came  into  it  in  183-4. 
Martin  McLeod,  William  H.  Forbes  and  Franklin  Steele  date  their  arrival  in  Minne- 
sota in  the  same  year,  to  wit  :  183  7.  All  of  these  gentlemen  are  still  alive,  with  the 
single  exception  of  Mr.  Baker,  who  died  in  St.  Louis  in  1840. 

William  A.  Aitkin,  Allan  Morrison,  Clement  Beaulieu  and  Donald  McDonald  were 
among  the  few  traders  with  the  Chippewas  with  whom  I  had  an  acquaintance.  Hon. 
H.  M.  Rice,  now  Delegate  to  Congress,  came  here  for  the  first  time  in  1839  or  1840. 
He  went  from  Fort  Snelling  to  Prairie  du  Chien  after  a  few  months  residence,  and 
there  engaged  in  trade  with  the  Winnebago  Indians,  whom  he  accompanied  to  their 
lands  on  the  Crow  Wing  River  in  1841  He  was  extensively  engaged  in  the  trade 
with  the  Chippewas  also. 

VOVAOE  IN   MACKIN.VC  BOATS  FROM  I'RAIRIE  DL'  CHIF.K  tO  KEO  RIVER  COI.OifV  . 

la  1820,  on  the  I5tli  day  of  April,  three  Mackinac  boats,  manned  with  six  hands 
each,  laden  with  200  bushels  of  wheat,  100  bushels  of  oats,  and  30  bushels  of  peas, 
under  the  charge  of  Messrs.  (iraham  &  Laidlaw,  left  Prairie  du  CWen  for  Selkirk's 


10  •        ADDRESS. 

colouy,  ou  the  K«d  River  of  the  North.  They  were  detaiucd  by  ice  at  Lake  Pepin, 
aud  the  crews  planted  the  May-pole  thereon.  On  the  third  of  May,  the  ice  was  suffi- 
ciently broken  up  to  allow  of  the  passage  of  the  boats  through  the  Lake.  The  voyage 
was  continued  up  the  Minnesota  river  to  Big  Stone  Lake,  from  which  a  portage  was 
made  into  Lake  Travers,  abont  one  and  a  half  miles  distant,  the  boats  being  drawn 
across  on  wooden  rollers.  Traversing  the  latter  body  of  water,  and  descending  the 
Sioux  Wood  river  to  the  Red  river,  the  party  arrived  at  Pembina  in  safety,  with  their 
charge,  on  the  3rd  day  of  June.  Pembina  was,  at  that  time,  as  now,  a  small  hamlet, 
the  rival  companies  of  the  North  West  and  of  Hudson  Bay's,  having  each  a  trading- 
post  at  the  confluence  of  the  stream  with  the  Red  river,  but  on  opposite  sides.  The 
crop  at  Selkirk's  colony  having  entirely  failed  the  previous  year,  the  grain  was  much 
needed  for  seed  the  ensuing  season,  and  of  course  command  a  high  price.  The  trip  per- 
formed in  these  boats  is  worthy  of  mention,  as  it  is  the  only  instance  of  heavy  article? 
being  transported  the  entire  distance  from  Prarie  du  Chien  to  the  Red  River  Settlement, 
with  tlie  exception  of  the  portage  between  Big  Stone  and  Traverse  Lakes,  by  water. 
C-'harles  St.  Antoine,  who  was  one  of  the  crew,  is  now  a  citizen  of  Dakota  county, 
and  is  one  of  the  few  survivors  of  that  eventful  voyage.  The  party  returned  across 
the  plains  on  foot,  as  far  as  Big  Swne  Lake,  from  which  point  they  descended  to 
Prairie  du  Chien,  in  canoes. 

iN'bl.vS'   TREATIES 

The  publications  of  the  Society  already  contain  the  particulars  of  tiie  visit  of  liieut. 
Pike,  to  the  Upper  Mi.ssi.ssippi,  in  1805-6,  which  resulted  in  the  acquisition  by  the 
government,  from  the  Dakota  Bands,  of  the  first  tract  of  land  ceded  by  any  Indian 
tribe  within  our  present  territorial  limits.  Lieut.  Pike  was  eminently  fitted  for  the  deli- 
cate task  allotted  to  him  by  President  Jefferson.  With  his  small  command  of  twenty 
men,  he  penetrated  into  the  midst  of  the  powerful  tribes  of  the  Dakota  and  Chippewa 
Indians — arrested  their  hostile  movements  towards  each  other — negotiated  a  treat}'  of 
cession  with  the  former — threatened  evil  disposed  tribes  and  Indians  with  punishment — 
tore  down  the  ]>ritish  (lag  whenever  displayed,  and  elicited  the  respect  and  admiration 
of  savages  who  were  entirely  under  IJritish  influence,  and  who  had  but  a  faint  knowledge 
of  the  power  of  the  American  Government.  Tliere  is  little  doubt  that,  but  for  the  im- 
pression produced  by  his  visit,  there  would  have  been  a  far  more  powerful  demonstration 
on  tin*  part  of  tlio  Dakotas,  tlian  was  really  made  in  favor  of  the  British  government, 
ill  the  war  of  IS  12  14,  during  the  continuance  of  which,  Pike,  then  elevated  to  the  rank 
of  P>rigadier  General,  lost  his  life  M'hilc  gloriously  leading  his  army  to  the  capturo  of 
Littl.1  York. 

In  IHJ."),  and  again  in  IRHd,  treaties  of  pacification  were  made  by^tho  oommissionors 
of  the  United  States,  witii  the  Northwestern  tribes,  at  I^rairio  du  Chien.  In  the  last 
mentioned  treaty,  the  grant  to  the  Dakota  half  breeds,  of  the  tract  of  land  at  Lake  Pepin, 
was  mado,  the  srttlemont  of  the  title  to  which  is  still  locked  for  with  so  much  interest, 
l»y  the  j)cop]c  of  the  tcnilory  generally. 

In  1837,  (fovernor  Dodge,  of  Wisconsin,  concluded  a  treaty  at  Port  Sneliiiig,  with 
the  (Miippcwa.s,  which  opened  to  the  enterprise  of  the  white  men,  tlie  great  pine  forests 
of  the  St.  Croix  and  Chippewa  rivers.  In  the  same  year,  a  delegation  of  Dakotas,  being 
callod  to  Wanhiiigton  city,  transferred  to  the  governmont  by  trenly,  all  the  lands  belong- 
ing to  thftl  tri1>ft,  lying  eant  of  the  Missessijipi  river. 


ADDRESS.  11 

In  the  year  1841,  Governor  i>oty,  of  Wisconsin,  negotiated  treaties  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States,  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  Mendota  and  Wabashaw,  for  the  purchase  of 
about  25,000,000  of  acres  of  the  land  owned  by  the  Dakotas,  on  the  West  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, but  the  treaties  failed  of  confirmation  by  the  Senate.  Nearly  the  same  area  was 
embraced  in  the  treaties  made  by  Messrs.  Lea  and  Ramsey,  in  1851,  but  as  these  were 
negotiated  after  the  organization  of  the  Territory,  they  do  not  come  within  the  purview 
of  this  address. 

TUK  Bi;iI.DIN(;  OK  FORT  SNEI.I.ING. 

I  am  not  able  to  state  the  number  of  United  States  troops,  who,  under  the  command 
of  Col.  Leavenworth,  first  occupied  a  spot  near  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota  river,  in 
1819.  They  erected  temporary  barracks, — 'the  remains  of  which  are  still  visible, — on 
the  South  side  near  the  present  ferry,  in  which  they  passed  tlie  winter.  Daniel  W.  Hub- 
bard was  the  first  man  who  felled  a  tree  on  the  campaign  ground.  During  the  winter 
of  1819-20,  the  scurvy  btoke  out  in  a  most  malignant  form,  and  raged  so  violently  that, 
for  a  few  days,  garrison  duty  was  suspended,  there  being  barely  well  men  enough  in  the 
command  to  attend  to  the  sick,  and  to  the  interment  of  the  dead.  So  sudden  were  the 
attacks,  that  soldiers  in  apparent  good  health  when  they  went  to  bed,  were  found  dead 
in  the  morning.  One  man  who  was  relieved  from  his  tour  of  sentinel  duty,  and  stretched 
himself  upon  the  bench  of  the  guard  room,  four  hours  after,  when  he  was  ^called  upon  to 
resume  his  post,  was  discovered  to  be  lifeless. 

Col.  Leavenworth  made  every  effort  possible  to  arrest  the  disease,  and  he  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  so  by  administering  decoctions  of  spruce,  and  other  vegetable  production.*, 
which  were  obtained  by  sending  parties  to  the  St.  Croix  and  Chippewa  rivers.  Vinegar 
and  other  anti-corbulics  were  also  procured  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  but  before  the  reme- 
dies could  be  made  available,  nearly  one  half  of  the  command  perished.  The  fatality 
caused  by  the  land  scurvy  is  the  more  unaccountable,  as  it  was,  I  believe,  the  sole  instance 
of  its  appearance  in  this  part  of  the  country.  It  was  doubtless  caused  by  the  bad  quality 
of  the  provisions,  especially  of  the  pork,  which  was  spoiled  by  the  villainy  of  the  con  ■ 
tractors,  or  their  agents,  in  drawing  the  brine  from  the  barrels  that  contained  it,  after 
leaving  St.  Louis,  in  order  to  lighten  the  load,  and  causing  the  barrels  to  be  refilled 
with  river  water,  before  their  delivery  at  the  post,  to  avoid  detection.  The  troops  were 
compelled  to  live  on  this  unwholesome  fare  for  two  successive  seasons,  before  the  fraud 
was  discovered. 

In  May,  1820,  the  command  removed  to  Camp  Coldwater,  below  the  site  of  the 
present  St.  Louis  House,  where  they  remained  during  the  summer,  but  the  following 
winter  was  spent  in  their  old  quarters.  Fort  Snelling  (then  Fort  St.  Anthony)  wa.*j 
being  Ijuilt  in  the  meanwhile,  and  as  rapidly  as  rooms  could  be  prepared,  they  were 
occupied  by  the  troops,  but  the  whole  number  could  not  be  accommodated  until  1824, 
when  the  work  was  finally  completed.  A  large  portion  of  the  lumber  used  in  its  con- 
struction was  cut  out  with  whipsaws,  from  pine  logs  brought  down  from  the  Rum  river, 
in  1821.  The  small  saw  mill  near  the  Falk  was  not  finished  until  about  the  same  period 
with  the  Fort  itself. 

It  is  stated  there  was  such  a  lack  of  W'rlting  paper  in  the  Fort  during  1820-21,  that 
Lieut.  Camp,  commissary  or  quarter  master,  was  compelled  to  make  out  his  quarterly 
accounts  for  transmission  to  Washington,  on  strips  of  birch  bark, 


12  ADDRESS. 

♦  ^ 

In  1824,  Col.  Suelliuy,  who  bud  previously  arrived  uud  UhSuiued  the  coniuiaud,  under- 
took to  raise  wheat,  wherewith  to  furnish  flour  for  the  troops,  but  the  crop  failed,  and 
as  a  consequenf^e  the  fjflirison  were  p1:ucd  for  thrco  montlis  on  half  rations. 

THK  TKOLKI.E.S  or  1  82T. 

The  amicable  relation.s  existing  lietwcen  the  governuicut  officers  and  the  Dakota.^, 
received  a  severe  shock  in  IS'21.  A  party  of  Chipi)cwas  having  descended  the  Missis- 
sippi, on  a  Tisit  to  t)ic  commandin;;'  officer  of  the  Fort,  were  allowed  to  encamp  on  the 
outside  of  the  walls,  and  under  the  protection  of  the  guns.  During  the  night  they  were 
fired  upon  by  a  small  numl>er  of  Dakotas,  and  two  of  their  party  wounded.  Col.  Snel- 
ling  was  informed  of  the  outrage,  and  on  the  following  morning  he  paraded  his  men  under 
anas  raarcheti  toward  the  prairie,  where  a  large  numljcr  of  the  Dakotas  were  assembled, 
and  seized  .some  of  the  principal  men  as  hostages,  for  the  surrender  of  the  guilty  parties, 
and  placed  them  under  guard.  During  the  next  day,  three  of  the  young  men,  said  to 
have  participated  in  the  night  attack,  were  brought  in  and  delivered  up.  They  were 
immediately  turned  over  to  the  Chippewas,  wdio  put  them  to  death  in  the  presence  of 
Ihe  troops;  and  two  days  after  a  fourth,  having  also  been  surrendered,  met  a  like  fate. 
The  Ixxlies  were  suflfered  to  remain  where  they  fell,  without  burial,  until,  becoming  offen 
sive,  they  were  thrown  over  the  steep  bluft',  near  the  Fort.  It  subsequently  appeared 
that  but  two  out  of  the  four  were  really  guilty.  One  of  the  innocent  men  had  sacrificed 
himself  to  shield  his  brother,  who  was  a  mere  boy,  and  the  other  was  not  of  the  attack- 
ing party.  The  excitement  which  was  produced  by  so  unusual  a  proceeding,  was  pro 
digious,  not  only  among  the  Dakotas,  but  among  their  white  friends  in  the  country. 
Tlie  commandant  was  charged  with  nnjustifiablc  haste  in  the  summary  execution  of 
innwent  men,  and  for  a  short  time  there  was  a  fair  prospect  of  an  Indian  war.  Col. 
Snelling  justified  the  steps  lie  had  taken,  on  the  ground  that  the  American  flag  had 
been  insulted,  by  the  violence  offered  to  Indians  under  its  immediate  protection,  and  it 
was  hifl  duty  to  punish  the  offenders. 

As  a  mere  cjuestion  of  policy,  there  is  no  doubl  that  Col.  Snelling  committed  a  grave 
ftrror,  in  sacrificing  four  Dakota  lives  as  an  atonement  for  the  wounding  of  two  Chippe- 
was, ^-oth  of  whom  recovered.  True,  the  severity  of  the  measure  tended  to  prevent 
future  onlbreak.s  of  a  like  kind,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Fort,  but  it  also  excited 
a  far  deeper  exasi>eration  in  the  minds  of  the  Dakotas  agaiaat  their  hereditary  euemiea 
the  Chippewa*-,  and  a  spiiit  of  revenge  njiainst  the  soldiers,  l)oth  of  which  found  vent  in 
bleod. 

Many  u  Chippewa  sculp  wnii  lorn  fr(nn  the  rucking  iiead  by  the  friends  of  the  victims^ 
which,  but  for  their  unhappy  fate,  would  have  remained  where  Providence  had  placed 
it — atid  a  nunil>cr  of  American  soldier^;  supposed  by  their  officers  and  comrads  to  have 
aUiuncfully  deserted  tbcir  colors  hud  in  nnlifv  l)r(M  rnthU'sdy  sIhI'i,  ;ind  their  bodies 
eoMealed  by  Dakota  hands. 

SoTcrul  of  stjch  cas«}.s  were  hrouglil  Lo  I  glit  iii  alter  ycar.s,  by  the  traders,  and  avowei^ 
hj  the  ludians  tlieir,.selves.  One  soldier  was  shot,  and  his  body  secreted  near  Lake 
('alhoun— another  wan  dispowd  of  in  like  manner,  about  two  miles  below  Mendota— 
and  1  inysflf  di-voverfd  the  skeleton  of  a  white  man,  not  far  from  my  present  place  of 
Tmidf:Xic;  which  (mh*  Ihe  nmrk  f>f  i<  bullAt  in  the  (♦kull,  and  which  was  rntogDized  ae 


ADDRESS.  IS 

the  remains  of  a  soldier,  hy  the  strips  of  clothing  fuund  in  tbe  immediate  ^  icinity.  On 
one  occasion,  Alexaudei*  Faribault,  while  descending  the  MiKsif-sip[)i  in  a  boat,  in  cons- 
pany  with  others,  found,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Pepin,  four  dead  bodies  of  soldiers,  partly 
devoured  by  birds  of  i>rey.  The  fate  of  the«e  men  elicited  but  little  sympathy,  for  they 
were  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  desert,  when  they  were  St;t  uiwn  and  bntchered,  by  cer- 
tain Dakotas  of  the  Red  Wing  Band. 

Other  instances  no  doubt  occurred  oC  ihe  .same  kind,  for  the  dchire  of  I'cvenge  when 
owe  aroused  in  the  savage  breast,  is  not  easily  Sittiated. 

Our  fellow  citizen,  Josepli  R.  Brown,  was  at  Lake  Travers,  when  the  Dakotas  were 
delivered  over  to  the  Cbippewas  for  execution,  and  on  his  way  back  he  narrowly  escaped 
death,  at  Lac  ^ui  Parle,  Traverse  de  Sioux  and  Six's  Village,  it  being  the  avowed  inten- 
tion of  the  friends  of  the  victims  to  destroy  him. 

UEGINXIN'G  OF  STEAM  XAVIGATIOX. 

The  rirst  steamer  that  ever  ascended  the  Upper  Mississippi  to  Fort  Snelling,  was  the 
"  Virginia,"  a  stern  wheeled  boat,  which  arrived  at  the  post  in  the  early  part  of  May, 
1823.  It  is  related,  that  a  sentinel  on  duty  firs't  heard  the  souud  made  by  the  escaping 
f'teara,  before  the  boat  was  disceruiblc.  He  cried  out  most  vociferously,  and  when 
officers  and  meu  crowded  around  him  for  information,  it  happeued  that  the  sounds  were 
no  longer  audible.  The  poor  fellow  was  in  imminent  danger  of  being  put  uuder  guard, 
when  the  "  Virginia"  made  her  appearance,  and  her  arrival  was  greeted  by  the  Ixjominar 
oi'  cauuou  and  by  shouts  of  welcome  from  the  whole  command. 

Previous  to  the  introduction  of  steamers  upon  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Mis.si86ippi, 
keel  boats  were  used  exclusively  for  the  transportation  of  troops  and  supplies.  Sixty 
days  time  from  St.  Louis  to  Fort  Snelling,  was  considered  a  good  average  trip. 

MISSIO.VARY  OPEKATIONS. 

Samuel  W.  Pond  and  Gideon  H.  Pond,  both  of  whom  aru  now  highly  rcbpected 
preachers  of  the  gospel  in  Minnesota,  came  to  this  country  in  the  spring  of  1834,  from 
New  England.  They  resided  with  the  Lake  Calhoun  Band  of  Dakotas  for  some  time, 
teaching  them  how  properly  to  cultivate  the  soil,  while  they  at  the  .same  time  endea- 
vored to  instil  into  the  minds  of  these  savages  the  truths  of  the  Christian  Religion. 
This  attempt  may  be  considered  us  the  germ  of  rnodorn  missionary  enterprize  in  this 
Territory.  Dr.  AVilliamson  was  sent  out  with  Mr.  lluggins  in  1835,  by  the  A.  B.  C.  F. 
M.,  and  a  station  was  formed  at  liaojui  Parle.  S.  R.  Riggs  followed  a  short  time  after, 
and  commenced  operations  at  Travers  de  Sioux,  but  he  was  subsequently  replaced  at 
that  point  by  Mr.  Hopkins,  Mr.  R's  i)ics6nco  being  required  at  Lac  qui  Parle.  Dr. 
AVilliamson  removed  to  Kaposia,  a  few  miles  below  St.  Paul,  and  commenced  his  labors 
there.  Messrs.  Denton  and  Gavin  were  despatched  to  this  missionary  field  by  a  Swiss 
Society.  Their  sphere  of  operations  was  principally  confined  to  the  Red  Wing  Band 
of  Dakotas,  but  their  efforts  were  soon  discontinued.  Mr.  Denton  is  now  a  citizen  of 
Illinois,  while  his  associate  was  ordered  by  the  Society  to  which  he  was  attached,  to  take 
up  his  residence  among  the  New  York  Indians.  The  Catholic  denomination  have 
confined  their  labors  to  the  Winn.-^bagoes,  they  never  having  made  any  locations  in  thr 
Dakota  conntry. 


14  ADDRESS. 

The  missionaries  have  zealously  devoted  themselves  to  the  work  allotted  to  them,  but 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  has  been  no  good  result  produced  in  the  I^orthweet,  ex- 
cept at  particular  points,  commensurate  with  the  amount  of  money  expended  and  the 
labor  bestowed  upon  the  enterprise. 

PIONEER  LUMBER.MEX. 

The  lumber  trade,  now  so  important  in  its  character,  may  be  said  to  have  been  origi- 
nated in  1839  or  1840,  when  Orange  Walker  and  his  partners,  erected  the  marine  mill 
on  the  St.  Croix  river.  They  were  folio ved  by  John  McKusick,  who  built  a  saw  mill 
at  Stillwater,  in  1844,  and  by  xVIowers  and  Loomis,  who  commenced  the  areola  mills 
about  the  same  time.  These  geatlemen,  with  Elam  Greeley  and  the  brothers  Taylor, 
were  the  pioneers  of  the  commerce  in  pine  lumber  in  Minnesota. 

PIONEER   FARMERS. 

Messrs.  Haskell  and  Norris  are  eutitled  to  be  considered  the  first  farmers  who  made 
M  nnesota  their  home,  and  who  demonstrated  that  our  lands  are  equal  to  any  other  in 
the  West  for  the  production  of  the  cereals,  a  fact  which  was  denied  not  only  by  men 
not  resident  in  the  territory,  but  by  individuals  among  us.  The  agricultural  and  lumber 
interests  are  to  be  the  great  levers  to  raise  us  in  our  career  of  prosperity,  and  the  origi- 
nators of  each,  the  men  "  who  have  borne  the  burthen  and  heat  of  the  day,"  should  be 
remembered  with  honor,  in  the  history  of  Minnesota . 

VISITS    OF    NOTAnLE    CHARACTERS. 

Since  the  establithmeut  of  Fort  Suelling,  this  region  has  been  visited  at  various 
times  by  men  distinguished  for  their  public  position,  or  for  their  literary  or  scientific 
attainments. 

In  18^0,  Lewis  Cass,  with  a  small  party,  traversed  Lake  Superior  in  a  bark  canoe, 
under  the  orders  of  the  government,  made  the  i)ortage  to  Sandy  Lake,  and  after  various 
explorations,  during  which  he  visited  the  fine  body  of  water  that  bears  his  name,  he 
descended  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  river. 

In  1823,  Major  S.  H.  Long,  with  a  few  scientific  men  and  an  escort  of  soldiers,  ex- 
plored the  valley  of  the  Minnesota,  and  the  country  lying  between  the  sources  of  that 
stream  and  Pembina,  where,  or  rather  near  which  point  he  designated  the  line  of  49'^ 
"North  latitude,  between  the  United  States  Territories  and  the  British  Possessions,  by 
flxin-T  a  prominent  post,  with  suitable  inS(;riptions,  deep  in  the  earth. 

Ilcnry  R.  Schoolcraft,  in  1832,  was  placed  in  charge  of  an  e.xpedition,  by  the  govern- 
ment, to  examine  the  region  between  Lake  Superior  and  the  Miississippi.  On  this  trip 
he  discovered  the  source  of  the  Grciit  Father  of  waters — Itasca  Lake.  He  also  added 
much  other  valuable  information  to  what  was  known  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  of  its  tributary  streams. 

Jean  N.  Nicollet,  the  man  to  whose  labors  this  Territory  is  so  deeply  indebted,  first 
visited  it  in  1835.  When  in  the  employ  of  the  government  in  1839,  he  came  across 
from  Fort  Pierre  on  the  Missouri,  to  Mendota,  and  with  him  was  John  0.  Fremont,  that 
being  the  first  experience  of  the  latter  in  prairie  life.  They  were  my  guests  for  several 
weeks,  and  Fremont  thm  acconipnniod  me  on  one  <»f  iny  annual  hunting  excursions  with 
the  IndianBjto  the  ll'-A  Cednr  river,  from  whence  I  r-onducted  hiin  to  Prairie  du  Chien. 


ADDRESS.  15 

In  the  same  year,  George  Catliu  made  bis  appearance,  a,  luau  wbutse  work  uu  iLe 
North  Ameriean  Indians  produced  much  sensation  in  this  country,  as  well  as  in  Europe. 
Of  all  those  who  have  visited  the  wilds  of  the  Northwest,  no  one  was  received  with 
greater  attention  than  George  Cfttlin,  by  resident  white  men,  and  no  one  deserved  it  so 
little  OS  be  did. 

His  intention  to  devote  a  long  time  to  the  .study  of  Indian  life  and  character  and 
his  eminent  fitness  for  such  an  undertaking  were  made  the  subject  of  frequent  editorials 
in  the  columns  of  the  Xew  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  then  under  the  char-rc  of 
Col.  Stone,  and  of  other  leading  prints.  According  to  t'.cir  representations,  tlie  read- 
ing world  was  at  length  to  be  blessed  with  such  a  production  as  the  interest  and  impor- 
tance of  the  subject  required.  Being  furnished  with  letters  to  military  ofRcei-s  and 
civilians  on  the  frontier,  he  was  aided  in  every  manner  pos&iblo.  His  o>)ject  in  comin"- 
here  was  to  visit  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  and  I  furnished  horses,  without  charge,  for 
himself  and  his  companion,  Mr.  Wood,  an  English  gentleman  of  intelligence,  provided 
them  with  a  trusty  Indian  guide,  and  gave  them  also  letters  to  the  gentlemen  at  the 
head  of  my  trading  poots  on  the  route,  which  rendered  it  (juito  certain  that  they  would 
meet  with  no  impediment  from  the  Indians.  They  were  questioned  by  the  Dakotas  at 
Traverse  des  Sioux,  as  to  their  intentions,  but  through  the  interference  of  Mr.  Proveu- 
calle  at  that  station,  they  were  allowed  to  proceed  without  molestation.  To  judge 
from  Catliu's  description  of  the  trip  one  Avould  suppose  that  he  had  been  kept  close 
prisoner  for  some  time,  and  that  nothing  but  his  own  heroic  daring  saved  him  from 
being  devoured  by  a  band  of  blood-thirsty  savages.  His  letters  purporting  to  have 
been  written  at  the  Pipe  Stone  Quarry,  but  which  did  not  appear  in  the  Xew  York 
papers  until  after  his  departure  from  the  Upper  Mississippi,  contained  severe  reflections 
upon  the  military  and  upon  traders  alike,  because  the  Indians  were  not  better  tutored 
than  to  interfere  with  an  American  citizen  in  his  passage  through  their  country.  His 
letters  abounded  with  mis-statements,  and  the  voluminous  work  subsc(|ucntly  produced 
by  him  was  equal  to  them  iu  that  respect.  The  people  in  this  (juarter  were  absolutely 
astounded  at  his  misrepresentations  of  men  and  things.  There  is  but  one  redcemiD" 
feature  in  his  book,  and  that  is  his  sketches  of  Indian  faces,  and  scenes,  which  arc  suffi- 
ciently faithful,  as  he  was  skilful  in  that  line,  and  his  pencil  could  not,  therefore,  like 
his  pen,  vary  much  from  the  truth. 

He  was  followed,  during  the  same  season,  by  (}.  W.  Featherstouaugh,  wlio  styled 
himself  U.  S.  Geologist,  then  on  his  way  to  the  head  of  the  St.  Peters  or  Minnesota"' 
river.  His  appearance  and  manners  were  ill  calculated  to  ensure  him  a  favorable  recep- 
tion among  plain  republicans.  He  was  both  aristocratic  and  conceited.  His  produc  • 
tions  are  characterized  by  abuse  of  American  society  and  of  particular  individuals.  All 
the  information  embodied  in  it  of  any  value  to  Minnesota,  was  the  result  of  the  labor 
of  Lieut.  Mather,  a  scientific  officer,  who  accompanied  him,  but  to  whom  he  vouchsafed 
no  credit  whatever  in  his  printed  volumes. 

Capt.  Maryatt,  an  English  naval  officer,  known  as  the  author  of  Peter  SimpV,  and 
other  works  of  fiction,  arrived  at  Mendota  in  1837,  and  was  my  visitor  for  several 
weeks.  He  had  little  of  the  gentleman  cither  in  his  manners  or  appearance,  nor  can 
reliance  be  placed  upon  his  statements  of  facts  in  his  printed  work.  Like  Feather- 
sonaugh,  he  was  a  thorough  aristocrat  in  feeling,  and  like  him,  he  manifested  anything 
bnt  friendship  for  the  United  States  and  its  iustitntions. 


16  ADDRESS. 

HISrORIC    SKETCH    OF    THE    ESTABLISHMENT    OF  A  TERRITORIAL    OOVERNMEXT. 

The  first  move  ia  Cougrcss  for  the  establishment  of  a  temporary  government  in  Min- 
nesota took  place  during  the  session  of  1846-7.  A  Bill  for  that  purpose  was  intro- 
tlaced  in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  Morgan  L.  Martin,  Delegate  from  Wiscon- 
sin, iu  anticipation  of  the  admission  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin  into  the  Union,  which 
Bill  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Territories,  Mr.  Douglas  being  the  Chairman. 
It  happened  that  I  was  in  Washington  at  the  time  the  bill  was  discussed  in  committee, 
and  I  was  consulted  by  Mr.  Martin  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  name,  he  stating  that 
there  had  been  four  names  proposed  by  different  members,  to  wit :  "Minnesota,"  as  in 
the  original  bill,  "Itasca,"  "Algonquin"  aud  "Chippewa,  i  urged  him  to  use  his  best 
efforts  to  retain  the  name,  it  being  the  Indian  term  to  designate  the  principal  river 
tvhich  took  its  rise  and  debouched  within  the  proposed  territorial  limits,  aud  was  there- 
fore iu  accordance  with  the  precedent  set  iu  other  cases, — aud  he  promised  to  do  so. 
The  Committee  reported  in  favor  of  the  Bill,  with  the  change  of  Minnesota  to  Itasca, 
and  with  material  alterations  in  the  Eastern  boundary.  When  it  came  up  for  consider- 
ation iu  the  House,  Houston,  of  Delaware,  proposed  "  Washington''  as  the  name  of  the 
new  Territory  ;  Thompson,  of  Mississippi,  was  in  favor  of  "Jackson,"  while  AVinthrop, 
of  Massachusetts,  manifested  much  anxiety  for  the  adoption  of  "  ChippcAva,"  in  lieu  of 
"  Itasca."  The  efi'ect  of  so  much  diversity  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  prominent  mem- 
bers was  to  cause  the  House  to  agree  without  a  coimt  to  the  motion  of  Mr.  Martin, 
who  proposed  to  substitute  "  Minnesota."  The  Bill,  thus  amended,  passed  the  House, 
but  was  lost  in  the  Senate. 

The  admission  of  the  Stale  of  Wisconsin  was  not  effected  without  a  severe  struggle 
in  fixing  the  Northwestern  boundary.  Some  members  were  in  favor  of  a  line  drawn 
due  West  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  Mississippi,  others  advocated  Rum  river,  others  the 
St  Croix,  and  still  others  the  line  from  Rush  river  of  Lake  Pepin  to  Lake  Superior.  The 
adoption  of  either  of  the  two  first  mentioned  would  have  been  attended  with  calami- 
tous results  to  the  Territory,  by  excluding  from  its  limits  all  of  the  region  East  of  the 
Mississippi  below,  and  more  or  less  of  that  above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  The  Rush 
river  line  was'by  far  the  most  just  and  reasonable,  as  it  would  have  left  the  whole  St. 
Croix  valley  which  is  identical  in  interest,  within  the  .'^^amc  political  organization, 
instead  of  being  divided  as  it  now  is.  The  utmost  that  could  be  obtained  by  the  friends 
of  the  Territory,  was  the  St.  Croix  line,  and  we  have  great  reason  to  be  thankful  to 
them  that  we  were  not  delivered  over  entirely  to  the  mercies  of  our  Wisconsin  neigh- 
bors, whose  affections  for  us  was  so  great  that  they  would  willingly  have  swallo^ved  all 
of  us  who  resided  on  tiic  East  side  of  the  river  without  manifesting  any  fear  of  nausea 
or  indigestion. 

In  1848,  the  people  of  tljc  lesiduuui  of  WiscuUbiu,  not  inchided  within  the  state 
organization,  determined  to  assort  their  rights  to  bo  represented  in  Congress,  and  they 
wore  aidwl  by  tliosc  who  lived  on  the  West  side  of  the  Mississippi.  The  first  meeting  of 
which  1  have  any  knowledge,  for  the  agitation  of  Ihe  subject,  was  held  in  IFcnry  Jack- 
»on's  building,  on  Bcncli  street,  Ik;  hiniKclf,  Augu.ste  Larpeuteur,  Alexander  McLeod, 
.[.  W.  Baftfl,  David  [^ambort,  James  .McJJoal,  and  several  others,  being  present.  There 
werfi  .'Lppoloted  a  cliainnan  and  .'.efrotary,  sumo  speeches  were  ma<lo  and  resolutions 
paswd  in  favoiof  a  convention  of  tlie  people.    1  think  the  meeting  wa^;  lield  in  May  or 


RELEASED  BY 
PUBLIC  LIBRARY.  DETROIT 
ADDRESS.  n 

Jimc,  l«4s.  iNy.vl  cauio  Lhe  wcotiiig  at  Stillwater,  ol'  August  4tb,  iu  the  wrnic  yaar, 
which  was  attended  by  sundry  citizens  of  that  town,  and  by  othorb  from  St.  Paul. 
Franklin  Steel  and  myself  were  tlic  solo  individuals  prcHcnt  from  the  West  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Some  twenty  of  us  signed  the  call  for  the  convention,  which  was  held  on  the  28th 
of  the  same  month,  at  Stillwater,  and  which  was  attended  by  sixty-two  delegates  from 
different  parts  of  the  Territory.  With  the  proceedings  of  that  convention  most  of  you 
are  familiai-.  I  havo  in  my  possession  the  original  petition  to  Congress  of  that  body, 
signed  In-  all  the  delegates,  and  it  is  my  intention  to  present  it  to  the  Society  as  a  vol- 
nablo  memento  of  the  past. 

The  election  of  a  delegate  to  Congress,  from  Wisconsin  territory — the  struggle  to 
obtain  his  seat — the  successful  issue — and  the  other  preliminaries  tothc  political  birth  of 
our  beautiful  Minnesota — these  are  subjects  upon  which  it  is  not  for  me  to  comment,  as  I 
was  the  delegate  when  the  Territory  was  organized.  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  we  ovre. 
mucli  to  the  raen  from  both  of  the  great  sections  of  the  union,  who  gave  their  votes  in 
our  favor,  at  a  time  when  the  questions  connected  witli  California,  and  the  other  terri- 
tories acquired  from  Mexico,  had  produced  a  state  of  feeling  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  which  augured  ill  for  the  success  of  an  attempt  to  proeare  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Territorial  government  in  any  quarter  of  tlu-  Union. 

PERSOXAL  AND  FIXAI.. 

I  have  now  discharged  the  duty  you  have  been  pleased  to  devolve  upon  me,  in  my 
own  imperfect  manner.  I  might  prolong  this  addro>  •^  to  an  indefinite  e.ttent,  by  details 
of  personal  adventures,  and  of  incidents  of  wild  life  in  the  We.st.  But  I  have  already 
trespassed  too  much  upon  your  time  and  patience,  and  1  close  with  th«  single  remark, 
that  I  may,  at  no  distant  day,  so  far  comply  with  the  wishes  of  some  of  my  friends,  as 
to  lay  before  the  public  the  results  of  my  experience  and  obserTation  since  my  arrival  in 
this  country,  with  such  other  facts  as  may  be  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 


F 


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